Parental Income, College Attendance, and First Birth Timing

Lori Reeder, University of Maryland

Whereas previous studies have estimated first birth differentials by race and education, the present study is the first to do so by parental income. The NLSY97 is employed to examine first birth timing across parental income quartiles among a recent cohort of U.S. women. Women from the lowest parental income quartile experience earlier first births, and higher hazards of first birth, relative to women in the middle parental income quartiles. Women in the highest parental income quartile exhibit the latest, and lowest hazard, of first birth. The relationship between parental income and fertility timing is examined through the intervening variable of college attendance.